Comodo IceDragon
As the name indicates, this browser is Firefox-based and that is evident if one would look at the theme, look and the actual feel of the menus.
Comodo has integrated particular features which increase security when browsing. It is the only browser that from the setup itself will ask you to use their SecureDNS Configuration to make sure that malicious websites and DNS Cache poisoning attacks will be blocked.
Theoretically, IceDragon is a fast browser. Nevertheless, in reality, probably due to advanced security algorithms getting used, some websites will load really slow. Moreover, the behavior blocker can block good websites from loading, because it considers them malicious.
Also worth noting that Comodo developers have also designed a browser based on Chromium, which they name Dragon. Similar security features are included in the browser.
How does IceDragon compare? If you need extra security, you can opt to use Comodo when accessing sites you are unsure about. However, probably not a great replacement of your current browser.
FlashPeak Slimjet
Slimjet is a relatively unknown browser that boasts on optimizing user time by offering good performance and high loading speeds. At the same time it integrates built-in tools to speed up productivity. In that aspect, it is similar to Maxthon.
Based on Chromium, SlimJet has a familiar look, but also integrates a Speed Dial similar to Opera. With a clean, minimalistic user interface, it does not lack features – almost all visual aspects of the menus can be configured.
SlimJet is, according to our tests, slightly faster than Chrome, but the biggest advantage it offers lies with performance; Slimjet handles multi-tabbed environment better than Chrome. That will be obvious to any user from the moment they open more than 15 tabs. It consumes less RAM – this is the main characteristic that has brought over several thousands of Chrome users.
SlimJet supports all the extensions of Chrome, has a built-in ad blocker, as well as social, screen capture, screen record and video downloader abilities.
When security and privacy are concerned, Slimjet is as secure as the most popular browsers out there, such as Firefox, Opera and Chrome itself.
What is our verdict on SlimJet? Definitely a worthy browser, it will be of great service to any user who finds Chrome slow and over-consuming. In our opinion, Slimjet is a must-have to the point of even replacing Chrome.
LunaScape
When most browsers are based on one engine, such as Trident, Chromium and WebKit, Lunascape lets you switch between them for a different user experience any time you want.
Why would you like to do that? The answer is to achieve compatibility with sites that might not support one engine. This feature makes this a necessary browser to power users and developers. Especially those who want to test a website design and its functionality with all 3 engines, from the same user interface.
With the click of a button, LunaScape switches between different engines without requiring a restart of the browser.
Does the switch happen smoothly?
That is another story – switching between engines can take a couple of minutes if your system is multitasking. Moreover, the biggest disadvantage we found regarding the engine switch process is that there is no drop-down menu that will ask us which engine to choose. Instead, if you click at the button when it says Trident, it will start initializing Gecko engine. When Gecko is ready, if you click at the button now saying Gecko, it will start initializing WebKit engine. As a result, the switching process is cumbersome, especially if you want to switch from Trident to WebKit at once.
In terms of performance, LunaScape is not the fastest option; in fact, it is one of the slowest, since the triple engine system does take its toll in performance. Privacy and security are also a question mark, since the extra features run the risk of generating loopholes. Such issues would make the browser vulnerable.
Is LunaScape useful? It can be, but only to developers and power users, and only because of its triple engine.
Pale Moon
Based on Firefox but in a stripped-up bare bones style, Pale Moon is a good Firefox alternative for older systems that lack enough RAM. It features multi-tabbed environment but not much more than that. It has however gained some popularity because it is a solid performer, loading most sites faster than Firefox and Chrome, without juicing out the system too much.
Do I need it? That depends – if you want a second browser that is Firefox-based aside Firefox itself, Pale Moon is better than IceDragon because it is lighter and faster. Nevertheless, it surely cannot replace Firefox. The main reason for that is that it does not support all extensions and the browser updates are always several steps back.
TheWorld
This selection might have surprised most if not all of our readers. This is a browser that is so infamous but it has a “cult” following because it is known to perform perfectly in very low-specs systems.
Supposing you had a Pentium 3 machine today with 128MB of RAM, TheWorld would be your browser.
It is not very fast and it has the bare minimum of extensions. However, it makes up with the amazing way it manages to load websites over and over again creating the lowest possible strain on the CPU and RAM of the system.
At version 3, TheWorld is not as light as it used to be on previous versions, because it had to comply with security guidelines and maintain a safe browsing environment. Still, it still is the lightest browser we have ever tried. Other internet browsers are not a match for it.
Do I need it? Yes, if your system is extremely old and nothing else will work properly.
We decided to exclude browsers that focus on extreme anonymity and privacy. Example browsers would be Brave and Tor. We do not consider them suitable for an everyday browsing experience.
In a future article we might decide to review some of these browsers for those power users who hate leaving their tracks exposed.
